casa numero dos

We closed on our second house this afternoon. A real single family house.
Two houses in two years.
So if my math is correct in ten years we will own ten homes. (: I'll thank my grumpy math teacher Mr. Nelson for those mad skills!
The truth is I'm a little sad to leave the duplex it was our first home and the home we brought little Brynny home to after all. The funny thing is we almost didn't even go inside the duplex when we first pulled up to the open house but our realtor was already inside so we obliged. You know when they say "you'll get a feeling"? Well we had a feeling about the duplex. Yes the outside was a sore thumb but inside the orginal wood floors were in great shape and the vintage bathrooms were in decent 60 year old shape. We always knew it was going to be an investment property and we are ready for some more space.  Besides I have a not so secret dream that someday Brynn will want to live here someday with a friend. It will be crazy to think what this area will be like in 20+ years based on all the new building/stores/restaurants that are currently in the works!

We've looked a lot of houses over the past year, multi and single family homes, only to keep looking. The duplexes we saw were either disasters (aka money pits) or really overpriced (which only made us more confident that we got a great deal on our current house!). The single family houses were a combination of houses that were already updated (and not in our style), lacked enough bedrooms or space in general, or were too expensive. Then this one came along and we made it ours. The nice thing about this house is that if we had to live here for a long time we could, but I have a feeling we'll be ready to remodel again in a few years once we have this house complete. As a bonus we've already rented the other side of the duplex..it actually took two showings instead of one this time because the first showing really wanted a dishwasher. The couple we found are two teachers with advanced degress who are getting married in a month. One actually teaches at the elementary school that Brynn will probably go to!

We have lots to look forward to in our new house (don't laugh as I know these are things most of you are used to!)
-2 car garage
-3 bedrooms on the same level
-a YARD
-new windows (I am over the "charm" of original windows that have been painted 20 times!)
-a fireplace (actually 2!)
-an open concept kitchen (after living in the condo for 3 years I really missed the ability to see the action while making dinner)
-a king sized bed!!

Magnus choice of "spots" in our homes:
1. Condo deck..preferably in the sunshine!

2. Chair by the window...again a sunny spot!

You know you're a landlord when...

...you look forward to the first of the month!

As Income Property's Scott McGillivray says "taking checks to the bank"....until you have to repair something. If you can't tell the envelope says "November Rent" and the check was actually enclosed so I had to take it away pretty quickly. I'm sure the bank takes checks soaked in baby drool...

Landlord Dilemmas: the expiring lease

Since the original intent of this blog was to document our experience as new landlords living next to our tenants I thought I'd break up all the baby cuteness (even though that is much more exciting!) with some landlord business. Overall our experience as landlords in Minneapolis has gone well. We applied for our license (and paid the hefty fee for change of ownership) and completed an inspection of both sides of the duplex. From here on out we simply pay a yearly fee. That's the easy part. The hard part is finding and keeping good renters. Lucky for us the rental market right now is really hot and the vacancy rate is at a record low.
When we purchased the duplex last year it came with renters through October 2011. This worked out well as we were remodeling the left side and didn't need both projects at the same time. When it came to find new tenants we simply posted an ad on Craigslist and within 24 hours had approximately 25 responses (to Kyle's cell phone I might add!). In hindsight we should have probably asked for a higher rent based on the response. Kyle ended up showing the apartment to the first people that responded and sold them on a one year lease. Kyle, Tyler, and our parents got the apartment ready by updating the kitchen, replacing the light fixtures, and painting almost every surface. I supervised as I was newly pregnant and complete anal about being near anything toxic!
They've been great tenants so far, they're quiet and claim to not hear our infant which is an added bonus. With their lease coming to end they asked for a 6 month extention.
This has many benefits for us:

1. It's costly to have people move in every year especially if this leaves the apartment vacant for any period of time

2. Every time new people move in and out you risk damage to the property

3. This extends the lease into next summer which is generally an easier time to find renters

4. I don't have to end my maternity leave cleaning up and painting :) :) :)

Kyle, forever my salesman, talked them into a 9 month extension which is even better!

Kyle's improvements to the renter's kitchen last year: new sink, new countertops and tile backsplash.